The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the official cut-off marks for the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Naval Academy (NA) Examination (I) 2026, along with vacancy figures and details of the qualifying standards.
Vacancies by service
The published vacancy distribution includes places for female candidates across the services and Air Force streams listed below:
- Army: 208 vacancies, including 10 for female candidates.
- Navy: 42 vacancies, including 5 for female candidates.
- Air Force:
- Flying: 92 vacancies, including 2 for female candidates.
- Ground Duties (Technical): 18 vacancies, including 2 for female candidates.
- Ground Duties (Non-Technical): 10 vacancies, including 2 for female candidates.
- Naval Academy: 24 vacancies, including 3 for female candidates.
NDA 1 2026 official cut-off marks
The official cut-off marks for the examination are shown in the published cut-off information.
Previous-year NDA and NA cut-offs
The figures below list cut-offs for the written examination and for the combined written examination and SSB stages. For NDA & NA (II) 2025, separate figures are provided for male and female candidates.
| NDA examination | Written exam marks | Written + SSB |
|---|---|---|
| NDA & NA (II) 2025 | 304.90 (For Men) & 358.84 (For Women) | 666.01 (For Men) & 737.40 (For Women) |
| NDA & NA (I) 2025 | 334 | 699 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2024 | 305 | 673 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2024 | 291 | 654 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2023 | 292 | 656 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2023 | 301 | 664 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2022 | 316 | 678 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2022 | 360 | 720 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2021 | 355 | 726 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2021 | 343 | 709 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2020 | 355 | 723 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2020 | 355 | 723 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2019 | 342 | 704 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2018 | 325 | 688 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2018 | 338 | 705 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2017 | 258 | 624 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2017 | 342 | 708 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2016 | 229 | 602 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2016 | 288 | 656 |
Minimum qualifying standards
At the written stage, the minimum qualifying standard was 207.83 for male candidates and 287.01 for female candidates. Candidates also needed to score at least 20% in each subject to be considered for advancement.
The marks secured by the last recommended male candidate were 557.00; for the last recommended female candidate, the figure was 649.18.
Tie-breaking rules
When candidates had equal aggregate marks, the candidate with the higher written-examination score was ranked higher. If their written marks were also equal, the higher score in Paper-II (General Ability Test) determined the ranking. If those marks were identical as well, the older candidate received the higher rank.
